Greyhounds beat defending Division-II champs

December 6, 2003

Freedom Newspapers

Freedom Newspapers
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Eastern New Mexico University entered the road trip to Oklahoma with a three-game losing streak, and left with a pair of one-point wins.
Senior Garland Coleman sank the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with eight seconds left as Eastern New Mexico University edged defending NCAA Division II national champion Northeastern State 62-61 on Saturday in a Lone Star Conference men’s crossover game.
Coleman was fouled by NSU’s Derek Cline as he headed upcourt after the Redmen tied the score on a 3-pointer by Darnell Hinson with 11 seconds left. Hinson, who finished with a game-high 28 points, missed a 3-pointer, but got another chance when Northeastern’s Shiloh Shores grabbed the rebound.
Coleman went 9-of-11 from the floor and led the Greyhounds (4-3) with 19 points. He shot 9-of-10 and scored 24 points in Thursday’s 67-66 win at Central Oklahoma and is shooting 73 percent for the season (44-of-60).
Junior Kennis Green added 18 points for Eastern, while junior Jamaal Hunnicutt grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
“Our guys just played well,” ENMU men’s assistant coach Mark Murdock said. “We didn’t guard the 3-point line that well, but we took everything else away from them.
“We really needed to put 40 solid minutes together. I don’t know if it was 40 minutes, but it was close.”
Hinson had six of NSU’s 10 3-pointers. Derek Cline added four 3-pointers and 14 points for the Redmen (5-4), while forward Midwin Francis chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds.
The game was close the entire way. Eastern erased an early 8-4 deficit with an 8-0 run, but fell behind 21-16 with just under eight minutes left in the half.
The Hounds rallied for a 31-27 lead late in the half. Francis’ desperation 3-pointer in the closing seconds pulled NSU to within a point at the break.
The Hounds broke away from a 35-35 tie to lead 47-40 on two free throws by Hunnicutt with 10:44 to go. Northeastern countered with a 10-2 run for a 50-49 advantage and the teams were never separated by more than a point until Coleman got loose for a layup with 39 seconds left, making it 61-58.
“We changed defenses after most timeouts and kept them off-balance all night,” Murdoch said. “It was a game as a coach that you really had to manage, and I thought (ENMU head coach) Shawn (Scanlan) did a great job of managing it.”

NSU 53, Zias 49
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Leslie Warner converted four 3-pointers, including one to give Northeastern State the lead for good with 4:19 left, and the Lady Reds held off Eastern New Mexico University 53-49 Saturday in a Lone Star Conference women’s crossover game.
Northeastern State (6-1), which suffered its first loss of the season Thursday night against West Texas A&M, erased a seven-point deficit in the second half as the Zias (3-4) continued their season-long struggle with turnovers. ENMU committed 28 floor errors, hitting 15 of just 33 field goal attempts for the game.
“Too many turnovers,” ENMU women’s coach Dan Buzard said. “We should’ve beaten them; we’re better than they are.
“We played really good defense, but we weren’t as aggressive as we should’ve been.”
Guard Rikki Hall added 10 points for the Lady Reds, who survived a 36 percent (19-of-53) field goal shooting).
Guard Laci Lee led the Zias with 15 points. Forward Elizabeth Richards paced ENMU to a 31-25 edge on the boards with 12 rebounds.
The Zias went on a 13-2 run early to open a 15-7 lead with eight minutes left in the first half. NSU countered with a 13-5 charge, taking a 20-18 lead on a 3-pointer by Katy Kelley with 3:58 to go in the half.
Eastern scored the first nine points of the second half, capped by Richards’ 3-pointer and opened a 38-31 margin on a basket by Robertson with 10:15 to go. Down 40-34, the Lady Reds went on a 15-2 run on another trey by Warner with under two minutes left.
“We capitalized when we got good shots; we just didn’t get enough of them,” Buzard said. “We really executed pretty well the first half on both ends. We just didn’t sustain it.”